Update - Violence in Forest Region

Thanks for your supportive messages during this difficult time. The tension has by no means gone away and the town of Nzerekore still has a heavy military presence. Some shops have reopened but it seems that many people are still afraid to venture out, for fear of being attacked. More than 60 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in the clashes.

Just a few short stories on how people we know have lived through this:

Augustine, Mariam’s son (the lady who works as our house help), lives in Koulé, the town where the violence started. As the situation there deteriorated, Augustine wanted desperately to return to Macenta but found that the route was blocked off. He’d even thought about returning by foot through the bush, a 50-mile journey, but was advised that it was too dangerous and to cautiously wait for the road to open. He arrived by motorbike on Friday morning, much to the relief of his mother and the rest of the family.

Pastor Jacob from Macenta was attending a Sunday school workshop at the main evangelical church in Nzerekore when a group of people burst into the grounds, brandishing rifles and machetes. The attendees fled for their lives, leaving their motorbikes, computers and other materials for the Sunday school workshops that were going to be held this month. Fortunately all attendees survived but two women were beaten up. All of the materials for the workshop were destroyed. The assailants entered into the church and set fire to pews and two houses on the compounds were burnt. The national Sunday school coordinator who had been leading the workshop and had fled to Macenta, bravely returned to Nzerekore to accompany these two women to their village.

In Beyla, Dr Loua, a government doctor and regular collaborator with our mission, was pursued and killed for being a Kpelle (Guerzé).

This testing time has given rise to discussions on us being agents of God’s peace, and as Christians, how to react to those who want to incite racial hatred. Tensions are high. Within the Christian community, racist language is being used. We’ve heard how the Christian community has been affected but not much information from other points of view.  Be with us in prayer for the bereaved, for the violence to stop and for these communities to get to the root of their grudges and work towards reconciliation. Pray also for Christians to exhibit what Romans 12:9-21 describes, the marks of a true child of Christ, so that others around them see the difference. Please, don’t forget Guinea!

Violence in Forest Region

We ask that you be with us in prayer for a situation that has occurred over the last 24 hours. In a village called Koule (the village of former coup leader Moussa Dadis Camara), about 40km from Nzerekore, the capital of the Forest Region, conflict was reported yesterday between the Konyanke (Malinke) and the Kpelle (Guerze) people groups. It was reported that a Konyanke robbed a gas station during the night and was killed. His relatives came and ransacked the gas station, setting off an inter-ethnic fight. Several people were wounded and shops closed. 

The violence continued today in Nzerekore and Koule, with reports of as many as 11 dead and some 50 injured and the conflict has also spread to the town of Beyla, the centre of the Konyanke people. Some homes, stores, and houses of worship (churches and mosques) are reported to have been vandalized or burned - the central evangelical church in Nzerekore and the church in Beyla have been burnt down. A pastor and his family have had to flee for their lives. There have been reports that the main route into the capital has been blocked off. The prefect of Nzerekore has established a night-time curfew from 18H to 6H. The patriarch (town elder) of Nzerekore, who was hurt in the clashes and rumoured to have died, is reported to have spoken on the radio and called for calm. The president has addressed the nation, also calling for calm. 

We ask you to pray for a stop to this violence so that peace can prevail. We’ve had contact with people who are situated in the midst of all this and they as you can imagine, are scared for their lives. Pray for the Christians to be peacemakers in the face of this tragedy, and for intense efforts at reconciliation between the Konyanke and Kpelle, two groups that are renowned for these skirmishes. That people are able to return to a certain ‘normality’ as soon as possible.

With our blessings and thanks,

Eric, Sarah and Gabriel

Eric and Medical Centre on film

In June, we had the joy of welcoming Pascal Machefer, pastor and communications representative from Leprosy Mission France. He had an intense filming schedule with Eric at the Medical Centre, with a focus on patient care and rehabilitation. In the day-to-day running of the Centre, it’s so easy to underestimate the work being undertaken here but Pascal’s visit was a huge encouragement. It’s good to have visitors come with new, fresh eyes on the work carried out. He hopes to do an exhibition of photos in Paris. It was his first visit to an African country and he thoroughly valued his time spent here. Pray that the films and the photos would be successfully and tastefully edited to highlight how the people living with leprosy are living positively and also show how the Medical Centre is of strategic importance to the Guinean health service.